List your equipment failures

Packing for a gig right now, so I'm getting paranoid by seeing an update to this thread. :)
 
The most debilitating was when the S hook on my bass drum pedal broke and has to finish on my
Floor tom. This has taught me to always have an entire spare pedal available, as well as a snare drum.

It has been several weeks since my band had a gig last, and while packing tonight, I inventoried the equipment I leave in my truck to be sure there was a bass drum pedal. That's probably my biggest fear. We beat on the pedal, and stuff Can break.
 
Once while I was playing a showcase gig at The Red Lion in Greenwich Village, the mounted tom just flopped off and rolled onto the floor in the middle of a tune. While we were still playing someone came over and tried to put it back but it just fell off again. I was able to get it set back up in between tunes. But that's why I really don't like playing the house drums. If it was my own kit there would not have been any failures, other than maybe my own playing.
 
Had the cast part that holds the spring tension rod & nut of a DW pedal snap on the first song and played the rest of the set off the slave pedal-was cool that a couple of people noticed. Only other one was was setting up at a festival and had to readjust a cymbal stand due to space and the main boom tilter stripped. With no time for a solution had to just lose that cymbal
 
Yup, DW Delta hinge fell apart in the middle of a show. Luckily there was another kit there, and I just went over and pulled the pedal off of it.

Wingnut came loose, cymbal fell on the ground (I played a lot heavier then).

One of the legs on a cheap, single-braced drum throne folded on me, but it was on the last note of the last song we were playing at a show.

Broke an Ahead drum stick back in the day playing live. Just came apart. Unlike wood stick, there's absolutely NO warning when they break. You know how when a stick cracks, you can feel it? This does not happen with an Ahead stick. One second it works and the next it's in two pieces. When I went back to wood sticks after playing these for almost a year, I couldn't believe how much rebound I had been missing.

Back when I used to use a Pinstripe on my kick, I noticed a split one of the plies before a show. The next week after I played, I went to a music store and bought one of those Remo Falam Slam drum patches. I'm pretty sure I played that same kick drum head for literally 10 more years. When I finally threw it out (after I discovered Evans EMAD's), it still played just fine. I probably should have kept it just because.
 
Snare batter split
Snare side split
Snare strap/wire snapped
Snare strainer died on a gig
Ported bass drum reso - still not sure how I managed that.
Sonor Perfect Balance pedal folding itself up mid song

Touch wood, they're very few and far between.
 
The most debilitating was when the S hook on my bass drum pedal broke and has to finish on my
Floor tom. This has taught me to always have an entire spare pedal available, as well as a snare drum.

An extra bass pedal is all I bring along with an extra drum key. I've dropped drum keys in the back crack of the stage. The extra bass pedal is from a Yamaha double pedal that the slave stripped while at a gig.
 
Dropped a stick and it got caught in the pedal, high hat at a gig, bass drum fortunately only at practice.
Snare drum stand telescoped 3" shorter mid song.
Snare drum stand tilted and rested on high hat leg, for a full song. Suffice to say they stayed closed for the rest of that track.
And of course on a rented kit I've had cymbal stands fall and toms fall and all the rest.
Not bad considering I've played less than 10 gigs
 
At a gig over Christmas, first song, first set, 10 seconds in, my beater flew off. Seems I'm in good company!
 
Other than normal (broken snare head, lost felt/wing nut/etc), my only one was user error- after adjusting the height of my throne, I forgot to tighten the memory lock (early 90's lower end [but not with the holes in the post that a screw goes into] Tama), so, halfway through the 1st song of the night, I started sinking. Had to finish the song looking like I was at the kids' table at Thanksgiving. :D
 
Had the cast part that holds the spring tension rod & nut of a DW pedal snap on the first song and played the rest of the set off the slave pedal-was cool that a couple of people noticed. Only other one was was setting up at a festival and had to readjust a cymbal stand due to space and the main boom tilter stripped. With no time for a solution had to just lose that cymbal

this is my usual problem at gigs, if there are any. Boom arm fail is sometimes unpredictable...

The only other one is "bass drum creep", but I always have a carpet with me now so usually I can prevent that

the worst fail ever was when the leg of a drum riser went bad. It was only one of the 3 footers, but I had to jump up and backwards mid song to get out of the way of the sliding set and monitor. 20 minutes, 4 milk crates and a number of cinder blocks later, we finished the rest of the set. I always check the legs now if I can!!
 
Over the years I've had a couple of bass pedal springs break on me in the middle of a song, and of course sticks and a few snare heads. Other than that, I've been lucky. I am very meticulous about my setup and make sure everything is tight (cymbal arms, floor tom legs, etc) before I play.
 
One time I was dancing on stage with Justin Timberlake, and he was supposed to pull open a panel to pretend expose me, but ended up exposing me to the whole stadium due to equipment malfunction.

Not a good day.
 
I guess I can add "hydraulic drum throne base" to the list. Looking for a spindle drum throne now.
 
Was that a hydraulic Roc N Soc? I have one of those...

No, it was a Gibraltar I bought less than a year ago off a friend of mine. It's practically brand new looking, but he bought it used as well. I'm a big dude, so I probably just wore out the hydraulics prematurely. After doing too much internet research on these and fixing them, I have read that all of those hydraulics will leak and fail at some point. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but they all fail at some point. I'm looking for a spindle replacement now because those last forever.
 
Hmmm. I can trade my hydraulic Roc N Soc in for a leather, spindle Tama First Chair with back rest. Wondering if I should......
 
Hmmm. I can trade my hydraulic Roc N Soc in for a leather, spindle Tama First Chair with back rest. Wondering if I should......

Don't do anything on my account. Research it for yourself and make the best decision for you. I have a friend who has been using a Roc n Soc hydraulic for years without incident.
 
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